Ferdinand Münz

Ferdinand Münz
Born(1888-06-23)23 June 1888
Died16 August 1969(1969-08-16) (aged 81)
Glashütten, Germany
NationalityAustrian
Alma materTechnische Universität Wien
Known forEDTA synthesis
Scientific career
FieldsOrganic chemistry
InstitutionsIG Farben

Ferdinand Münz (1888-1969) was an Austrian chemist who first synthesized EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) at IG Farben in 1935, patented both in Germany (anonymously) and in the USA [1] (with his name), with the aim of producing a citric acid substitute, in order to reduce the German government's dependence on imports of chemical products from abroad. Münz noted that an aminocarboxylic acid worked much better as a chelating agent than citric acid and therefore thought that a polyaminopolycarboxylic acid would have worked even better.[2]

In 1945 he worked closely with the future Nobel laureate Kurt Alder (1902-1958). In 1949 they published a paper together on diene synthesis and additions.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ US 2130505, Münz, Ferdinand, "Polyamino carboxylic acids and process of making same", published 1938-09-20, assigned to General Analine Works, Inc. 
  2. ^ Paolieri, Matteo (December 2017). "Ferdinand Münz: EDTA and 40 years of inventions". Bull. Hist. Chem. 42 (2). ACS: 133–140.
  3. ^ Münz, Ferdinand; Alder, Kurt (1949). "Diensynthese und substituierende Addition beim Divinyl-methan-typus Addition von Maleinsäure-anhydrid an Pentadien-1,4 und an 1,4-Dihydro-benzol". Justus Liebigs Ann. Chem. 565: 126–135. doi:10.1002/jlac.19495650113.